CSI Gone
by Dani Sanders
Summary: Even though struggling with the loss of one of the team, the rest must work together to find the killer. Includes made up characters.


_**CSI: Gone**_

**Warning: Contains spoilers for Season 8 & 9**

_**Chapter 1: The Night Before**_

_**Part 1: The funeral**_

"The team will not be the same without-" Grissom's speech was cut off as tears streamed down his face. He looked up and saw a church full of people dressed in black, hanging their heads lows: hiding their tears. It was hard for everyone to except that they had lost such an amazing CSI.

_**Part 2: Last night**_

"Nicky just choose a radio station" Lucy complained to her big brother.  
"There are no decent songs" Nick moaned. Lucy laughed quietly and put her attention back on the road. A few more snippets of songs later and they arrived at their crime scene. The two CSI's jumped out of the SUV, opened the trunk and grabbed their kits.

"Hey Vartann what do we have?" Nick asked walking towards the yellow crime tape.  
"Mr and Mrs Hartley dead in their home, their daughter Amelia came home from prom and found her parents like this" Vartann showed them to the bodies. Mr Hartley, GSW to the chest, powder burns means close contact. Mrs Hartley GSW to the back of the head, no powder burns the killer was far away.

"You got this Nicky?" Lucy asked to her older brother; Nick nodded and crouched down beside the husband.  
"Right i'm gonna go talk to Amelia"

**Lucy**

Lucy headed down the gravelled path and headed towards a small, thin girl with blonde curly hair reaching her waist. Her make-up was ruined from the tears; she was dressed in a slim, red dress.  
"Amelia?" The girl looked up and sighed  
"Look I've already told you guys what I saw and all I want to do is go to bed, when can I go into my house?"  
"Well the house is a crime scene, is there any friends or family that you could stay with for a couple of nights as we will need to come back to the house to find out what happened to your mom and dad" Lucy answered sympathetically. "If you could just come down to station so we can a written statement then one of these officers can take you to a family or friends" Amelia nodded, Lucy sat down beside her, just as Lucy had sat down Amelia flung her arms around Lucy and sobbed into Lucy's shoulder.

**Nick**

Nick had just finished photographing the first body when he heard shouts coming from outside the house. Nick stood up and shot out of the house, down the path, past the red Ford and towards the police cars and SUV.  
"What the hell's going on Amy?!" A young boy with dirty blonde hair was standing on the other side of Lucy trying to get to the daughter.  
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to step back a little bit" Lucy said calmly.  
"What did you do Amy?!" The boy took no notice of Nick's younger sister and continued to yell at Amelia  
"Just 'cause your jealous mom and dad preferred me doesn't mean you have the right to blame their deaths on me!" Amelia answered through sobs. Nick approached the tape and ducked under it.  
"Luce take Amelia and get her a coffee or summit and I'll chat to Mr. Hartley over here" Nick interrupted putting a hand on the young boys back and moving him to the other end of the SUV.

The boy shrugged Nick's hand off his back and turned away from the muscular Texan.  
"What's your name son?" Nick asked quietly  
"Jake" the boy answered moodily "Y'know if my parents have been murdered you should put that spoiled brat in interrogation and see what you can get out of her" Jake added in a low growl  
"I'm guessing that's your sister" Nick waited for some sort of answer, when he did not receive it he pressed on "What makes you call her a 'spoiled brat'?" Nick asked confused.  
"Right me and _her _are twins ok? Every birthday and Christmas she is always complaining that her presents aren't big enough or fancy enough I mean what more can she ask for when she has an Iphone, Laptop, IPod, IPod touch, Ipad, T.V, and Stereo. Oh and an application to the best college in the US. Would you like me to continue?"Jake turned to see Nick just standing there absorbing every bit of information Jake was telling him  
"So why do you think she killed your parents?" Nick asked after Jake had finished his protest  
"Probably because she asked for a car or summit and dad said no" Jake was now looking at his feet interested in a rock he was kicking around  
"Fair enough, well thanks for your help bud, I promise we'll find out what happened in your house" Just as Nick was about to walk back to the house he heard a loud click, a click that only came from a gun being cocked.

**At the same time in a different SUV**

"Hey I was listening to that!" Greg cried as he changed the radio station  
"Bro, you need to start living in the 21st century, no wonder your love life is non-existent"  
"If you really can't remember: I'm married and Dani doesn't mind my interest in the 60's and mobs" Greg replied cheerfully running a hand through his sandy head of floppy hair.  
"Are you sure she's not just feeling sorry for you?" Greg's twin brother joked.  
"Don't be mean Gary" Emma, the youngest Sanders sibling said to her oldest brother "I'm sure Dani loves Greg for all he is even if that does include crazy hair, horrific shirts, terrible taste in music and just pure weirdness" Emma leaned forward and ruffled Greg's hair. Greg thought about this for a moment then replied  
"I don't think so" the three siblings started laughing  
"So how is the marriage going?" Gary asked Greg  
"Well we've only been married 3 weeks I can't really say ask me in about a year" Greg answered yawning and soon enough pulled up to the crime scene- well Desert.  
The three young CSI's jumped out the SUV and headed towards Brass who was walking up to them rather quickly.  
"You guys better hurry up as there is a wind storm predicted at about 4:15, three female DB's bruises on the ankles and wrists and a stab wound in each of the vic's stomachs" Brass rushed off and drove away rather quickly. Emma looked at her phone and gasped  
"We only have half an hour before we lose everything!"  
"Em: Blonde, Greg: Brunette photograph as much as possible bag the hands, hair scrapings need to be done here. Go!" The three CSI's worked in double quick time photographing every bruise and stab wound.

With only 10 minutes left the coroner had taken the bodies and all the evidence had been collected, the three siblings were about to head back to the lab when they saw two men walking towards them.  
"We can't have gone this far without realising they were missing" the slightly wider man moaned  
"Stop complaining and look, there's a storm comin' in 10 and we need to find them. Chrissie! Sam! Kelly!" Both men were now yelling names. When the smaller, less wider one saw Greg, Gary & Emma he ran up to them "Excuse me have you seen three girls anywhere?" he asked worried  
"Sir, do the girls look like this?" Emma asked showing them photo's of the victims, the two men gasped as they saw the photo's  
"Y-yes they are the girls we are looking for, the blonde one's Sam, the red head that's Kelly and the brunette is Chrissie" The smaller guy answered. Greg noticed that the bigger guy was alot quieter than his friend 'Does he know something?' the thought was running through Greg's mind until he decided to speak up  
"Would it be possible if you could come and talk to an officer at the station, just to clear you as suspects"  
"Well we have friends down that way and we are camping out so..."  
"That's alright the officer over there will come with you and collect your friends" Gary interrupted he was getting tired and couldn't really be bothered to listen to the kids excuses.

The three CSI's headed back to the SUV when suddenly there were multiple bangs.

A bang like

A gunshot.

**Meanwhile**

"Great" moaned Catherine as she looked in the fridge and realised there was no milk. She closed the door and stood up. She brushed her long strawberry blonde hair from her face. The night had been long and the case was testing Catherine's patience. Her only suspect had just been shot and died. The only piece of evidence that hadn't been ruined by the rain was a fingerprint. Unfortunately this only proved the deceased suspect had been in the house and didn't prove that he had killed three year old Gracie Jones. All Catherine needed right now was a steaming mug of coffee, so she grabbed her coat and car keys and headed to the nearest coffee shop. The bell tinkled as Catherine opened the door, it was quiet there was an old man sitting at the counter with a small bowl of soup.  
"Hi Ms. Willows, the usual I presume" the young girl behind the counter smiled.  
"Yes please Janet" Catherine sat at her usual booth, put her head in her hands and sighed.  
"Another long day?" Janet asked as she brought Catherine her coffee.  
"Oh you have no idea" Catherine laughed half- heartedly.  
"Well this brew should perk you up abit. By the way could you please watch the guy at the counter he seems abit...off to me" Janet walked back behind the till and started counting the money from the till.

Catherine lifted her cup and the strong smell of coffee beans and milk warmed her whole body up. She sipped the coffee and let out a long sigh. She took another sip of coffee and decided to call her daughter. She dialled the number, it rang twice and Lindsey picked up

"Hello?"  
"Hey Lindsey it's me"  
"Hey mom what's up?"  
"Nothing I just wanted a chat"  
"Ok what do you wanna talk about?"  
"How was school today?"  
"Meh, ok- I got a D in science today"  
"Oh, Well done sweetheart that's fantastic" Catherine loved talking to Lindsey; it seemed to help her let go of everything in her mind. She was about to ask what Lindsey had done in the evening when someone burst into the coffee shop, gun out and ready to pull the trigger.

"Get everything out of the till now" The man yelled.  
"Lindsey i'm gonna have to go we'll talk later" Catherine whispered and hung up, she hated doing this to Lindsey: making her worry but it's all Catherine could do. Catherine looked at Janet who was fumbling about at the till pulling out all the notes. The man came round the counter, pointed the gun at Janet and took the rest of the money out of the till himself. He then went round everyone telling them to give him their phones, jewellery money etc. And then he got to Catherine.

He stood beside her, gun to her head. Catherine calmly pushed her phone towards the man, removed her necklace, watch and earrings.  
"Anything else?" The man spat  
"No" Catherine answered trying not to show the gun sitting at her waist  
"Are you sure?" The man pushed Cath and the one thing Catherine didn't want to happen... happened. Her gun fell from her waist and clattered loudly as it hit the floor. "You lied to me! You're a cop! I should shoot you right here!" He stepped away from Catherine, turned around and started to shoot everyone in the shop

**Somewhere on the strip**

"This case better not be too complicated" Carly moaned as she sneezed and yawned. "I have a crazy headache and such a blocked nose its unreal" Carly sneezed again.  
"You should've called in sick" Dani said sympathetically handing Carly a tissue.  
"Nah, if I'm coughing up blood then I'll take a sick day. You're so lucky you don't get ill" Carly sighed and Dani laughed quietly  
"It's a curse and a blessing" Dani corrected her friend as she pulled up to the casino.  
"How? I mean you basically never get ill!" Carly was clearly confused  
"Well, I don't get _as often _as you but I do get ill and when I do, I get hit hard it won't be anything like a cold no I'll probably end up having tonsillitis or something like that-Hey Mitch" Dani answered ducking beneath the tape and stepping into a room and happy pings and bright lights  
"Your dead guy? Not dead" Officer Mitchell greeted the girls with the news.  
"What do you mean not dead?" Carly asked obviously annoyed but confused  
"One too many drinks, passed out no-one thought to check his pulse, dialled 911 and said someone died. When we got here he was sitting at the slot machine as if nothing had happened" Mitch answered laughing at the sound of the story. Dani sighed and looked at Carly who was clearly annoyed that she had to come out when she was ill, for a guy who awoke from the dead.  
"So we can go home?" Carly asked  
"Not quite" Mitch answered  
"But there's nothing to process!"  
"I just said the guy ain't dead I didn't say there wasn't a crime scene"  
"Ok show us" Dani said before Carly exploded with anger and annoyance

The crime scene was a room in the hotel set with a double bed, bathroom and en-suite and balcony. And hanging from the chandelier was a guy in his mid-40s, white, still, lifeless.  
"Obviously a suicide" Mitch said  
"Not necessarily Mitch, someone could've killed him and made it look like suicide we see it all the time especially if it was an accident"  
"Sorry I'm late guys busy night" David Phillips the sheepish assistant coroner walked in smiling nervously  
"Better late than never Dave" Carly replied giving Dave a reassuring smile. Carly went around the room, swabs in one hand, tweezers the other, camera round her neck  
"Dani if you hold him, I'll untie the rope" Dani held the body, David untied the rope and the guy fell gracefully onto the gurney.  
"Name's Jock Miguel, from Arizona. What's he doing killing himself here in Vegas?"  
"Holiday? Something bad happened here, couldn't bear to go home" Dani answered looking up from her camera. She took scraping from his hair and nails.  
"He's good to go Dave" David wheeled to body out of the room and it was just Carly and Dani working hard. Unaware that in a couple of hours, their lives would be turned completely upside-down, from a single phone call.

**Carly**

Carly headed into the bathroom to find more evidence even though she was hoping she wouldn't she was now tired and ill all she wanted was a nice cup of coffee and a good half hour sleep (and maybe a cuddle with Nick) she was almost done processing the bathroom when she heard someone from the main room shouting at someone else.

**Dani**

The balcony wasn't the biggest balcony in the world but one thing that Dani had learnt from hers years of being a CSI was that even the smallest things could hold the most important piece of evidence. When Dani had finished the balcony rail was no longer white but black from fingerprint powder. Dani headed into the main room when she saw a man routing through the drawers and stuffing things into his pockets  
"Excuse me, this is a crime scene" Dani said politely  
"So?" The guy looked up at Dani. His hair was straggly and his clothes were dirty. His eyes carried heavy bags and even though they were standing on either side of the room Dani could smell the alcohol on his breath.  
"Well that stuff might be evidence and your fingerprints are now on it"  
"I don't care if my prints are on anything, my wife kicked me out of the house 3 months ago, I lost my job all I want is some spare clothes!" The man yelled and suddenly pulled out of gun from his back pocket. Dani stood still then Carly walked out.

"Sir, I going to have to ask you put the gun down please" Carly asked calmly  
"Stand over there with her" The man pointed to Dani as he barked instructions to Carly. "You will let me take whatever I want otherwise I shoot. Do you understand?" The girls nodded and continued to stand still. And then from out of nowhere a gunshot.

**In a kid play park**

"Ok Miss the last time you saw Lila was?" Warrick asked the young woman in front of him.  
"It's pronounced Lee-la and it was about half an hour ago, my daughter Maisie was playing with over there in the sand pit, I look away and the next thing I see is Maisie running up crying that someone had taken her" The woman looked terrified as if it was her own child that was missing.

Warrick looked at the young brunette child standing next to her mother then looked back at his witness. "Miss Do you mind if I talk to Maisie?" The woman looked at him, thought and replied by crouching down and saying to her daughter "Sweetie this man is going to ask you some questions about Lila just think slowly and tell him everything you can remember"  
"Hi Maisie my names Warrick"  
"Hi"  
"Right Maisie first question: What does Lila look like?"  
"Yellow hair, down to there" indicating to her hips "That colour eyes" pointing to Warrick's shirt.  
"That's great Maisie can you tell me how tall she is, using your hands?"  
"About this big" Maisie used both hands, Warrick looked up to her mother for conformation  
"Maisie's had that doll since she was born, please find it" Warrick stood up, shocked at his discovery  
"Ma'am are you telling me you called 911 because your daughter lost her doll?"  
"No! Maisie would never lose Lila, someone stole it!" The mother protested  
"Ok one minute. Metcalf, Sara come here!" The police officer and Warrick's fellow CSI ran over to him  
"What happened Warrick?" Sara asked  
"We are looking for a-"  
"Guys over here I found something" Another police officer was digging around in the sand and then pulled out a doll  
"Lila!" Maisie ran over to the sand grabbed her doll and hugged it.

"Well I guess that's our case done" Sara sighed happily  
"I guess so" Warrick answered. Sara and Warrick were driving in the SUV when a young girl ran into the middle of the road screaming. Then a man with a gun followed her  
"Sir! Put the gun down now!" Warrick yelled pulling out his own gun. The man shot the girl and then pointed the gun at the two CSI's

**In the lab**

The tarantula was crawling along Grissom's desk when the phone rang.  
"Grissom" "Where are you?" "Ok I'll be there soon" Grissom hung up and rushed to his car. Grissom dialled his phone  
"Catherine you need to get to Gary's scene, someone's been shot, call Nick and Sara." He dialled the phone again, this time Dani picked up  
"Danielle are you and Carly nearly finished at your scene" "Ok you need to go to Gary's scene" "I'll explain when I see you" Grissom drove in silence, thinking about what he would see when he got there.

_**Chapter 2: Back in time**_

**Coffee shop**

The robber shot at everyone but stopped when he got to Catherine  
"This is what happens when you lie to me" the man growled angrily  
"Are you going to shoot me?" Catherine yelled. The man turned around to get money from all the victims' wallets. Catherine bent down and grabbed her gun; she lined it up with the man's back and pulled the trigger. The man fell to the floor lifeless. Catherine pulled out her phone and dialled 911  
"Yeah I need a couple of day-shift CSI's at Berkley's coffee shop we have multiple gunshot victims: one of them the killer" Catherine sighed, sat down and put her head in her hands

**At the Hartley's house**

Nick turned to see Jake pointing a gun at him. The only thing Nick could do was try and talk Jake out of pulling the trigger.  
"Jake you don't need to do this, you will only get yourself into trouble" Nick pleaded to the young boy.  
"You don't understand do you? I killed my parents, I killed them I came home and shot my own mom and dad!" Jake cried "And now you know that, I have to kill you"  
"No you don't Jake, if you pull the trigger now you will get into even more trouble than what you will already be in" Then Jake pointed the gun to the side of his head and pulled the trigger. Nick rushed to the young boy felt for a pulse.

Nothing.

"Nick!" Lucy ran to the sound of the gunshot and there she saw Amelia's brother and her own brother.  
"Nicky, what happened?" Nick looked up and walked towards Lucy.  
"He told me he killed his parents and then shot himself just like that." Nick sighed and put his arm around his little sister.

**Warrick and Sara**

"Sir! It is two against one, just save yourself and put the gun down!" Sara yelled to the man standing opposite her.  
"I don't care if you shoot me, the bitch is gonna rot in hell! Where she is meant to be!" The man pulled the trigger. Warrick shot. Sara shot. Two bullets impacted the man's chest and his bullet buried itself into the windshield of the car next to the SUV.

"Warrick are you ok?" Sara asked  
"Yeah, yeah I'm good you?"  
"I'm fine"  
"What the hell was that all about?"  
"I have no idea but it seems our shift isn't about to end" Sara answered firmly

**The hotel**

The two girls gasped, neither of them had expected the gunshot to come. The man who had pointed the gun at them was now lying at their feet, bullet hole in his back and blood seeping through his jacket  
"Girls?" Officer Mitchell called to the two CSI's who were still standing as still as a statue "Sorry to scare, are you ok?" Carly and Dani both nodded and let out a deep breath and walked out of the hotel room. Behind them they heard Mitch calling in the shooting. When Dani found her voice again she looked at Carly and said:  
"Coffee?"  
"Please" Carly answered quickly

**The desert **

The three CSI's pulled out their guns and started shooting at the two boys in front of them.

**Emma**

The smaller had a terrible aim and kept missing his target. Then she saw him fall to ground, one of Gary's bullets had hit him in the shoulder. Now it was three against one, the bigger guy. His aim was better than his friends but not great.

**Gary **

After he had hit the smaller guy he turned to the other guy. The next couple of seconds seem to go so quickly until Gary heard a cry.

A cry of pain. It sounded like a guy so he knew Emma hadn't been hit. Then bullets stopped flying. Their target ran off. He hadn't been hit which means-  
"Gary!" The oldest brother's thoughts were interrupted when his sister shouted him. When his mind returned to earth he saw Emma kneeling on the ground, a hand on Greg's stomach. "Gary help!" Emma shouted her eyes sparkled with tears. Gary knelt on the other side of her brother and pulled out his phone. For some reason his fingers didn't dial 911 but instead dialled Grissom's number. He put his phone to his ear, his voice shaking  
"Grissom"  
"Griss, me, Greg and Em were about to leave our scene when two witnesses started shooting at us. We got one guy but the other guy got- Greg, it's bleeding really badly"  
"Where are you?"  
"Desert, near the I9"  
"Ok, I will be there soon" Grissom hung up and Gary just stared down at his brother who was on his back, trying to blink back the tears.

"Gary! Why did you call Grissom we need an ambulance!" Emma screamed at her brother. Gary tried to speak but he couldn't, his voice wouldn't work. "I'll do it then!" Emma shouted. Then Gary felt something on his knee, he looked down and saw Greg trying to grab something. Gary grabbed his twins hand  
"Come on you can fight this, come on bro you can't leave me with her _and _Dani" Both boys laughed through their tears  
"Bro, I'm scared" Greg croaked quietly  
"I know but you need to get through this, the lab needs your music, your randomness, the lab needs you" Gary squeezed his brothers hand, the minutes went by slowly. The worst thing: watching Greg's blood seeping through his shirt, hearing him groan in pain and most of all, watching his brother let go slowly.

10 minutes passed and Gary was still begging that Greg would be ok when he felt his brothers' grip loosen and he heard the last deep breath of life Greg had. Gary dropped his hand and stood back, he couldn't believe it, his brother had given up. Greg: the one he least expected to give up the fight. Emma came back with a clean bandage.  
"Gary? What's up?" Emma's worried eyes looking into Gary's lost, teary eyes.  
"He- no he couldn't" Gary blurted out  
"Gary! No he couldn't what?!"  
"Greg wouldn't give up, No!"  
"What? You mean? He's gone?" Gary nodded, Emma collapsed down beside her brother, the one who always made her laugh, her big brother was always there and now he had left her.

_**Chapter 3: The Phone Calls**_

After day-shift got Catherine's statement and after Grissom had called her, she followed her order and called Nick first.  
"Stokes"  
"Hey Nicky, Grissom told me to tell you to go to Gary's scene something's happened"  
"What?"  
"Well the details are vague but someone was shot" A lump grew in Catherine's throat  
"Who?"  
"Nicky I'm sorry I don't know" Catherine hung up and cleared her throat, again she dialled the phone.

"Sidle"  
"Hey Sara, Grissom wants you at Gary's scene, I don't know alot but someone's been shot."  
"And that's all you know?"  
"Yeah I'm sorry"  
"Ok Me & Warrick'll head there now"

**Nick**

"Hey Luce we need to head over to Gary's scene, someone's been hurt and I have no idea who" The two siblings jumped into the SUV and drove down the road in complete silence, the worst things were flashing in their minds, Lucy was dreading that what happened to Nick 2 years ago was happening again. Nick was just worried that they had lost someone.

**Sara**

Warrick and Sara were speeding down the road  
"What do you thinks happened?" Warrick asked  
"I don't know, I really don't want to think about it though" Sara snapped angrily "Sorry"

**Dani**

After Grissom's cryptic phone call Dani walked over to Carly  
"Sorry coffee'll have to wait, we're needed at Gary's scene"  
"Isn't there already three of them there?"  
"Don't yell at me, it's your dad who hasn't told me anything" The two girls rushed out to the SUV and quickly headed to Gary's scene

_**Chapter 4: The lost one**_

When Grissom pulled up and got out of his SUV he saw Emma: crying and Gary was holding her tightly.  
"Gary what happened?"  
"I-I couldn't save him in time, Grissom I'm sorry" Gary sobbed  
"Gary I understand, I know you tried" Grissom walked past the two CSI's and knelt down beside Greg, he was hoping Greg would then go 'Boo' and just sit there laughing at everyone's reactions but that never happened, then it sunk in, they has lost Greg and they were never getting him back.

"Grissom! What happened?"Catherine ran forward, her strawberry blonde hair swishing around her face, she moved the strands of hair from her face and then saw it: Greg, lying still. She gasped in horror and cried out, the tears falling from her eyes like a tap on at full force.  
"Cath, I'm sorry I tried to get him to hold on but he couldn't" Gary apologised, through his tears  
"Gary, this isn't your fault" Catherine replied reassuringly. Grissom stepped back, and then Warrick, Nick, Lucy and Sara all arrived. They all ran forward and then shock at what they saw left them speechless. Sara and Lucy like Catherine burst into tears. Grissom held Sara, Warrick hugged Catherine and Nick put his arm around Lucy, trying to hold back their cries: Warrick and Grissom succeeded but Nick let the salty tears roll down his cheek and splash on the floor.

The final SUV pulled up, Carly jumped out and ran over to the team, Dani followed slowly, not really wanting to see what everyone else was looking at.  
"What happened?" Carly cried  
"We-er- lost Greg" Silence was quickly shattered by the piercing cry of Dani  
"NO!" everyone turned to see Danielle standing there, confused.  
"I'm sorry Danielle" Grissom looked at the youngest CSI as she looked around at everyone else for confirmation that Greg was still alive.  
"No, he-he wouldn't le-leave me."  
"He just couldn't hold on, he tried" Catherine stepped forward to hug Dani but she moved away.  
"Nicky? You're all kidding right, just some pathetic joke right..." Danielle trailed off as she realised that the team weren't joking, Greg was actually gone. Then it hit her: she ran forward, she had to see him, she was stopped as Nick grabbed her from behind  
"You don't wanna see him like that Dani, really. Shh, It's gonna be ok, we'll get the guys who did this, I promise" Dani turned and buried her face into Nick's shoulder and cried.

_**Chapter 5: Finding the shooter**_

Everyone was back at the lab, standing around the table in the lay-out room.  
"Right first thing who are Greg's enemies?" Grissom asked, every time someone said Greg's name and lump formed in their throat.  
"First one that jumps to mind is Aaron James" Dani said quietly, almost a whisper "And maybe Shaun"  
"What would your abusive boyfriend have against Greg?" Gary asked disgustedly  
"Maybe because Greg punched him in the face, helped me give him 15 years in prison and probably in his mind stole me" Dani answered angrily.  
"Alright no need to snap" Gary interrupted  
"Well I wouldn't need to snap if you had just called an ambulance instead of Grissom!"  
"It's not my fault Greg died"  
"I never said it was!"  
"That's what it sounded like to me!"  
"Ok, I'm sorry if I sound selfish but I think i'm allowed to show my emotions just once in my life or am I always meant to be the strong one and cry or yell when I'm on my own?!" and with that Dani stormed out of the room, quickly followed by Nick.  
"Well, you handled that well didn't you Gary?" Sara snapped  
"She doesn't know what it's like to lose a brother!"  
"_You_ don't know what it's like to lose a loved one!" Catherine interrupted  
"That was abit uncalled for Gary" Grissom mentioned  
"So your saying it's ok for her to blame me, well I'm sorry but she wasn't there praying, begging Greg to hold on!"  
"No she wasn't but you haven't been through half of what those two have been through together"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well imagine what it was like for Greg to know that his- crush was going home to a place of abuse every night, then Dani was there for Greg after the explosion, Greg was there for her when she was almost giving up on finding Nick a couple of years ago. Then this year, what with the beating affecting them both, then the James' making everything awkward and god only knows what else has happened, things that we don't know about" Gary said nothing, he knew the team was right but it was almost like none of them wanted to listen to his side of the story.

**Nick**

Nick walked into the break room where he saw Dani sitting in the corner of the sofa, curled up, crying.  
"Hey" Nick started the conversation not sure where it was going to go. He sat down next to his best friend, put an arm around her and pulled her closer to him. Dani continued to cry, when she finally stopped crying she lifted her head and put it on Nick's shoulder.  
"What are these?" Nick asked picking up some photos from the table  
"Memories" Dani answered, both Nick and Dani looked through them, laughing, remembering all the good times then Nick got to the last photo. At first Nick wasn't sure what it was but then he realised it was a picture from a scan for a baby. Nick looked at Dani who was silently crying again.  
"This is yours I'm guessin'" Dani nodded, Nick didn't know what to say so he got up grabbed a coat handed it to Dani, she looked up confused  
"Go home, sleep, cry do whatever but you need to get away from here for an hour or two" Dani took the coat and whispered _'thank you'_ to Nick

Back in the lay-out room, everyone was quiet then Nick walked in  
"How is she?" Catherine asked worried  
"I told her to go home, sleep" Nick answered sighing "And you'll never guess what else I found out"  
"What?" Grissom looked at Nick almost excited  
"She's pregnant"  
"Jeez" Warrick was the first to react to this statement "Did Greg know?"  
"I'm not sure I didn't want to ask. Man this is crazy, no wonder she snapped at you Gary" Suddenly Grissom's cell started ringing. Everyone went silent, for some reason hoping it was Greg asking why no-one had come to help him with his crime scene  
"Grissom" "What? Where is he?" "I'll send someone down" Grissom put his phone down, no-one had to ask because Grissom knew what they were going to ask "Warrick, Lucy go down to PD Brass has just found the shooter: Aaron James"  
"That sick son of a-"  
"Another time Nicky" Catherine interrupted

**Lucy**

"Hey Aaron" Brass said sitting down  
"Listen can you tell me why I am here" Aaron asked impatiently  
"Because you smart-ass kid- you killed one of our guys" Warrick answered angrily  
"Ok, I ain't gonna lie, I did shoot Sanders but I suppose he had is coming after he ran over my brother"  
"Alright that's all we needed to hear thanks again" Lucy opened the door and walked out of the room, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and called Grissom  
"Hey Griss someone should go and tell Dani that we got the guy. Yeah he confessed straight up, simple"

**Catherine**

Catherine knocked on the door. Grissom, Sara, Lucy, Carly and Nick all had tried to talk to Dani but she wouldn't open the door to anyone. Then Dani opened the door, eyes red and puffy from crying. "Hey Dani can I come in?" Dani stepped to the side and motioned for Cath to come inside.  
"How are you"  
"To be honest: I feel like i'm lost in the middle of the desert"  
"Well hopefully my news won't make you feel _as_ lost: We got the guy" Dani looked up and almost smiled  
"Really?"  
"Yeah Aaron James" Dani hugged Catherine and both of them went back to the lab

_**Chapter 6: Memories**_

Everyone was sitting in the church, no-one said a word, everyone was doing the same thing remembering the best memory of their friend, co-worker, little brother

**Warrick**

Warrick just remembers seeing Greg in the lab enjoying every second and not caring if anyone laughed at him for being who he was.

**Sara**

Sara would remember seeing Greg so hyper and so energetic even when everyone around him was just too tired.

**Carly**

Carly remembers seeing Greg smiling no matter what was thrown at him and he always seemed to make anyone near him laugh or smile

**Catherine**

Greg was like the son Cath never had, watching him go from crazy lab rat to professional field mouse. He was so free and didn't care what others thought, he would make sure no-one was upset or worried

**Nick**

Nick had always worried that when Greg got out into the field he would be hurt and seeing as Greg was like his little brother, secretly he preferred the crazy lab rat to the field mouse that he was

**Lucy**

Lucy remembers the day that her, Gary, Dani and Greg went for a picnic on the hottest day last year. The two boys bought water guns to 'cool everyone down', it was a great day to just let everything go and not think about work or anything.

**Gary**

Just watching Greg mess about and enjoy what he did field or lab. He was always smiling no matter what situation he was in, and mainly the fact that he could be the funniest and craziest guy he had ever laid eyes on, and that made him smile every time he thought about it.

**Emma**

Her big brother, embarrassing himself in front of Danielle, the only one he ever wanted. Teasing him about his hair and dress sense and when Emma first started going out with her boyfriend Greg telling him that if he broke her heart Greg would surely break his face.

**Dani**

There had been too many times that Dani couldn't think about all of them so she chose the most recent of them: Their wedding. After 3 years they finally got to say their 'I do's'. The night he proposed. Their first kiss. Greg's smile, his jokes.

**Grissom**

Grissom would only remember young Greg rocking out completely oblivious that Grissom, Catherine and Danielle were watching him. After Danielle had turned the music off he opened his eyes and just said 'Could've been a rockstar'

_**Chapter 7: The Surprise**_

"The team will not be the same without-" Grissom's speech was cut off as tears streamed down his face. He looked up and saw a church full of people dressed in black, hanging their heads lows: hiding their tears. It was hard for everyone to except that they had lost such an amazing CSI. Grissom cleared his throat and said  
"Would anyone else like to say any words?" Silence then a man at the back stood up and croaked  
"Yes please, I would like to say a few words about Mr. Sanders" Everyone turned to see an old man, back bent and a head of grey hair.  
"Who is this guy?" Nick whispered  
"No idea" Dani answered.  
"One question" The man was about to speak when he scratched his head  
"Sorry stupid wig" he turned around, when he turned back anyone who was looking saw a tall, skinny, young man with a floppy hairstyle- a sandy brown colour...  
"Why the hell is everyone crying and thinking I'm dead?" Greg asked cheerfully as if nothing had happened.

Men and women gasped in shock. The whole team turned and saw the guy who they thought was dead was- well very much alive. Greg was still standing at the top of the aisle smiling, then Dani got up, ran down to him and just before she got to him she stopped  
"Hey" Greg said calmly  
"What-?" Before Dani finished her question she fell into his arms. "You have got so much explaining to-" Greg didn't let Dani finished as he kissed her a couple of times  
"I'm sorry, I do love you, you know that right" Kissed Dani a couple more times and hugged her again. Then the rest of them team got up and walked towards Greg. Catherine, Emma and Sara hugged Greg. Lucy and Carly just stood there amazed at what had just happened. Warrick and Grissom both put their hands on his back and said  
"You really need to tell us what's going on" Gary hugged his brother and made Greg promise not to do anything like that again. Nick just punched Greg in the arm and said  
"By the way Greggo, your gonna be a dad"  
"Subtle Nicky" Dani said sarcastically. Greg looked down at Dani clearly confused  
"Well if you hadn't of 'died' you would've known" Dani tiptoed and kissed Greg again

_**Chapter 8: The Explanation**_

"So where the hell have you been? And who is the guy who died instead of you?" Dani asked, all the CSI's were in the break room all with a cup of coffee in their hands. Greg the centre of attention.  
"Well a couple of months ago I heard that someone knew something about a case I was working on. Anyway this guy would only talk to certain people. Police not being any of them certain people. So I had to go undercover to get this information, Ecklie knew all about it" Everyone looked at Greg surprised, Greg would tell Ecklie but not his friends  
"Ok, so why didn't you tell us?" Carly asked  
"Well I thought that if anything happened or if it went downhill, that these guys would come after you guys" Greg looked around the room "Sorry for scaring you guys"  
"So that answers one question, next one who was the guy pretending to be you?" Emma asked  
"A guy does that sort of stuff for a job, he had plastic surgery to look exactly like me, taught him how to be me, I did ask him if he was willing to risk his life to help me and he said yes"  
"That's why you were always hanging back at the lab and going in early." Dani said putting her arms around Greg's chest and kissing his neck  
"Yeah I knew you would be the hardest to fool" Greg answered turning his head and kissing Dani  
"Well he did a good job"  
"Yeah he made us all believe that he was you and that you had died" Warrick pointed out. Everyone murmured in agreement  
"Right how about we get a couple of drinks?" Lucy asked standing up a putting her coat on  
"Yes, we have a couple of things to celebrate" Nick stood up and grabbed his keys  
"Like what?" Gary asked taking a final gulp of coffee and putting his cup in the sink  
"Well your brother isn't actually dead is one. You're gonna be a uncle is another and because we haven't been out together for ages" Nick replied. Everyone got up, put their cups in the sink, grabbed their coats and headed out. Dani took Greg's hand and stopped him from walking out, Greg turned around  
"Everything Ok?" Dani pulled him into a tight hug and didn't say anything for a while "What's up babe?" Greg asked pulling away abit.  
"I don't ever wanna lose you" Dani answered quietly  
"I know I missed you and I saw how you reacted when Nick told you that I was 'dead'"  
"You were there?" Greg nodded kissed Dani once again and then said  
"Let's go come on" Greg put his arm around Dani and they walked out.

_**Chapter Nine: Apologies**_

"Whose turn is it to buy the drinks?" Nick asked finishing his beer. Everyone looked around and all eyes stopped at Gary  
"Fine the same everyone?" Gary asked pulling out his wallet and a $20 bill. Gary got up and walked over to the counter, he turned around and saw everyone laughing and joking, everyone had basically forgotten what had happened over the last couple of days.  
"Hi" a blonde girl behind the bar walked over to Gary and smiled "what can I get you?"  
"Hi, five beers, two whites, two rosés, G&T and Lemonade please"  
"Sure" The waitress went and grabbed eleven glasses and started preparing the drinks, Gary was thinking about the past events when Dani came up to him  
"Hi, thought you might need a couple more hands" Dani said smiling  
"Cheers" Gary replied smiling back "Listen I'm sorry for snapping at you"  
"It's my fault I shouldn't of said what I did" Dani interrupted  
"How about we say this, it was both our faults- to save arguments"  
"Good idea"  
"That'll be $15.65 please sir"  
"God, we're not cheap are we?" Gary joked  
"No we are not" Dani answered laughing; the two friends walked back to the table and placed the drinks on the table. Everyone was talking and joking for a couple of hours then Grissom stretched and said  
"Right guys I'm going to head off home now" He picked up his coat, said good-bye to everyone and left. Catherine and Emma soon followed, and then Nick, Lucy and Carly, half an hour later Warrick headed home and then left at the table was Gary, Greg & Dani.  
"I guess we should head home now" Greg said looking around the room.  
"Yeah" Dani agreed yawning. The three CSI's stood up and walked out.

**The next day**

Greg picked up his phone and dialled the number, it rang

Once, twice, three times then a woman answered

"Hello?"  
"Hi, Mrs McKenzie?"  
"Yes?"  
"Do you have a son called Joe?"  
"Yes, why?"  
"Mrs McKenzie, I'm sorry but Joe has died" The other end of the phone was silent, Greg was dreading telling the family that their son, brother, boyfriend had died helping out a guy who he didn't even know.  
"H-how?" Joe's mother asked teary  
"Um, he w-was helping m-me out and he got shot at a crime scene, I'm so sorry ma'am I never meant for your son to get hurt" Greg was now struggling to speak loudly as the lump in his throat grew bigger and bigger.  
"No, no I understand, I always told him that his job was dangerous, thank you for telling me, good-bye" The phone hung up, Greg dropped the phone on the table and collapsed into a chair near him, put his head in his hands and let some tears fall.

"Greg?" Grissom walked into the break room, the young CSI looked up to see Grissom sitting opposite him, his face puzzled  
"Hey Grissom" Greg answered clearing his throat  
"Are you ok?" Greg sighed, he didn't really want to talk about it but it was Grissom and if Greg didn't tell him, he would found out somehow, Greg took in a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair  
"I just called Joe McKenzie's family and told them that he died helping me, I just- I don't know I mean I've told lots of parents that they're kids have died but this was just really hard because he-he died pretending to be me, it should've been me-"  
"No, Greg it wasn't meant to be you at all, Joe said he was ready to risk his life to help you and did that, this is no way your fault, I promise" Grissom stood up and made two cups of coffee "Don't let it get to you Greg" and he walked out of the break room.

_**Chapter Ten: Three Years Later**_

The past three years had been hard for everyone: One case had really tested Sara so much that she finally decided to leave. Undersheriff Jeffery McKeen shot and killed Warrick, this shook everyone alot, a few months after that Grissom left, Catherine became the team's new supervisor and they had a new team member: Dr. Ray Langston. On the upside Dani and Greg had their baby and called him Adam. After Warrick's death the team became closer than ever. God only knows what the future brings for the team, but what they do know is that they will be there for each other no matter what. 


End file.
